Splice bar descaling method and apparatus



Sept. 5, 1944. E. A. sKowRoN 2,357,595

SPLICE BAR DESCALING METHOD AND APPARATUS v 2 Sheets-h-Sheet l Filed Aug. 17, 1943 f INVENTOR. Slam! d, vm

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Sept. 5, 1944. E. A. sKov/RON .25357,695

SPLICE BAR DESCALING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17, 1943 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 5, 1944 lSPLCE BAR DESOALING METHOD AND APPARATUS Edmund A. Skowron, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Woodings-Verona. Tool Works, Verona, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 17, 1943, Serial No. 499,006

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the reforming of rail'- Vroad track splice bars, and more particularly to it is common practice to remove them and rto reform ythem into substantially their original shape so that they can be used again. In the reforming process the bars are heated in a furnace, after which they are reformed or shaped in a forging press. When the bars leave the furnace they are covered with scale which is so hard that if it is not removed it will quickly wear the forging dies. The practice heretofore has been to pass the red hot bars through a tank of water which chills and loosens the scale to some extent,

While at the same time two men with scraping tools scrape the scale from the bars. This method has not been satisfactory because much of the scale is not removed, with the result that the reforming dies are worn much faster than `they should be.

It is among the objects of rthis invention to provide a splice bar descaling method which requires no manual labor, which is entirely automatic, which is very rapid, which is inexpensive, which effectively removes substantially all of the scale,A and which materially prolongs the life of the reforming dies. Another object is to provide apparatus for carryin-g out this method.

In accordance with this invention splice bars ,n

that are about to be reformed, and that have just been removed from a furnace in red hot condition, are moved lengthwise through a housing in which jets of water are sprayed against the surfaces of the moving bars. The water is under high pressure, at least 400 pounds per square inch,

`and the jets are directed at each bar at an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar so that the water not only will strike the scale with considerable force but will also shoot under the edge of the scale and loosen it. The jets preferably are directed toward the entry end of the housing, and are flat with their planes extending transversely of the bars. The housing is mounted above a conveyor by which the bars are carried through it to another conveyor that takes 'them to the reforming press. The water sprayed on the bars is caught in a trough below the hous- .ing and carried away to a settling tank where est the scale settles out so that the water can be returned to the spray nozzles.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is lillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of my Ldescalingapparatus in front of a furnace; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the conveyor and spray housing; Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the descaling apparatus taken on the line Ill-III of Fig. 2 and showing a splice bar being descaled; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged end View of one of the spray nozzles.

Referring to the drawings, a conveyor is 1ocated in front of the door I of a furnace 2 for heating used splice bars, and the conveyor eX- tends outwardly beyond the side of the furnace. The frame of this conveyor is formed from a pair of parallel side members 3 each of which has a vertical flange with an outwardly extending horizontal flange along its bottom, as shown in Fig. 3. The side members are spaced apart with a plurality of parallel conveyor rollers 4 disposed between them for supporting a red hot splice bar 5. The shafts of the rollers extend loosely through the Vertical flanges and into bearings 6 rigidly mounted on the horizontal flanges of the side members. In order that the rollers in front of the furnace may be driven, their shafts on the side of the con- Veyor opposite the furnace project from their bearings and carry gears 1. There are idler pinions 8 between the gears of each adjacent pair of shafts so that all of the shafts turn in the same direction. The outer shaft of the roller nearest the right hand side of the furnace extendsAA into another bearing 9 l(Fi-g, l) and is rotated by a sprocket II and a chain I2 (Fig. 2.) that is driven by a speed reducing unit I3 operated by an electric motor I4. The drive for the rollers is covered and protected by a horizontal top plate I5.

The rollers to the right of the driven rollers are gravity rollers, and the portion of the conveyor frame supporting them is inclined downwardly slightly toward its outer end so that splice bars will be carried along Aby the gravity rollers until they strike an electric limit switch IB at the end of the conveyor. When this switch is closed by a bar, it closes a circuit that operates a pushing device Il mounted on the furnace side of the conveyor. Since this device forms no part of the invention it will not be described in detail. It is sufficient to say that when the pusher is operated it pushes a bar off the opposite side of the table and onto rails I8 (Fig. 2) that extend to a forging 'press (not shown) in which the bar is reformed so that it can be used again. The bars are slid along these rails by means of an endless chain conveyor having vertical pins I 9 that push against the bars.

It is a feature of this invention that between the time heated splice bars` are pulled from the furnace onto the conveyor and the time that they are removed from the conveyor by the pushing device l1 the bars are automatically descaled. Accordingly, a rectangular box-like housing 2| having an open bottom is mounted on the side members 3 of the conveyor between the furnace door and the pusher. The housing shown in the drawings is of such length that it covers two of the driven conveyor rollers and two of the gravity rollers. As shown in Fig. 3, the side walls of the housing rest on top of the vertical flanges of the side members where they are held in position by small plates 22 that overlap the inner surfaces of the flanges and housing to one or both of which they may be welded, The opposite ends of the housing are provided with openings so that splice bars can be carried through it by the conveyor. As shown in Fig. 2. the entry opening normally is closed by a swinging door 23 hinged at its upper edge to the housing end wall so that the door can be swung inwardly and upwardly by the bars as they enter the housing. The exit opening 24 is not provided with a door.

Projecting into the housing through its top and side walls are water pipes 26, 21, and 28 to the inner ends of which spray nozzles 29 are connected. Each of these nozzles is provided with a single transverse slot 30, as shown in Fig. 4, which produces a flat spray of water. The nozzles are so positioned that the planes of the sprays extend transversely of the housing; that is, crosswise of the bars passing through the housing. The water from these nozzles is caught in a trough formed by welding the opposite edges of a plate 32 to the bottoms of the conveyor side members 3, as shown in Fig. 3. The furnace end of the trough is closed by an end plate 33 welded to the vertical flanges of the side members, and the other or lower end of the trough is closed in a like manner by an end plate 34.

The bottom of the lower end of the trough is provided with an outlet that opens into the upper end of a drain spout 36 (Fig. 2) which empties into a settling tank 3l. A fourth water pipe 38 extends up through the bottom of the trugh and its upper end is provided between two of the conveyor rollers with an upwardly directed nozzle like lthe other nozzles in the housing. To keep water from splashing out through the housing exit, the exit is protected by a baille plate 39 that is connected to the back wall of the housing above the exit and is inclined downwardly toward the front of the housing.

It has been found that for best results the spray jets should be directed toward the bar and the housing entrance at an angle of between 7 and 30 to the transverse plane of the bar. In other words, they should make an angle with the longitudinal axis of a bar passing through the housing of between 60 and 83. When disposed at such angles, the jets strike the scale with great force and yet the water can work under the edge of the scale and lift it from the bar. The water delivered to the spray nozzles is under high pressure, not less than 400 pounds per square inch When the bars are traveling through the descaling housing at about two feet per second, a water pressure of about 400 pounds is suflicient. But if .they travel faster, then a higher pressure is necessary. The driven rollers of the conveyor carry the bars through the descaling spray at the desired rate, but the gravity rollers at the outer end of the conveyor are advantageous because they stop rotating when a bar is arrested by limit switch I6 and therefore do not wear against the bar as driven rollers would do.

It will be seen that the descaling method disclosed herein is entirely automatic and the apparatus requires no attendant. A single workman who pulls the heated bars from the furnace onto the conveyor is all that is necessary. In addition to saving labor, this apparatus does a much better job than was done heretofore. The bars not only are completely descaled, but by doing so, the life of the reforming dies is increased materially.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and construction of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

Iclaim:

1. In the process of reforming a track splice bar, the method of descaling it comprising moving the bar longitudinally, and directing flat jets of water against all side surfaces of the moving bar at an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar and at a minimum pressure of about 400 pounds per square inch.

2. Apparatus for descaling track splice bars in the process of reforming them, comprising a housing, means for conveying a splice barendwise through the housing, a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in the housing for spraying jets of water against all side surfaces of said bar at an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar, and means for supplying water to the nozzles under high pressure.

3. Apparatus for descaling track splice bars in the process of reforming them, comprising a housing provided at its opposite ends with an entrance and an exit, means for conveying a splice bar endwise through the housing, a door for said entrance mounted to be swung inwardly and upwardly by a bar entering the housing, a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in the housing for spraying jets of Water against said barlat an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar and directed toward its rear end, means for supplying water to the nozzle under high pressure, and a baille plate in the housing inclined downwardly from above said exit toward said entrance. Y

4. Apparatus for descaling track splice bars in the process of reforming them, comprising a trough having an outlet, a plurality of conveyor rollers extending across the trough for carrying a splice bar endwise along the trough, a housing mounted on the trough and through which the bar is carried by said rollers, means for driving the rollers at the yentry end of the housing, the rollers at the exit end of the housing being gravity rollers, a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in the housing for spraying fiat jets of water at said bar at an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar, means for supplying water to the nozzles under high pressure, and a settling tank for receiving water and scale from said trough outlet. Y

5. Apparatus'for descaling track splice bars in the process of reforming them, comprising a housing, means for conveying a splice bar endwise through the housing at a speed of about two feet per second, a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in the housing for spraying flat jets of water against all side surfaces of said bar at an angle between about 60 and 83 to the axis of the bar and directed toward its rear end, and means for supplying water to the nozzles at about 400 pounds pressure per square inch,

6. Apparatus for descaling track splice bars in the process of reforming them, comprising a trough having an outlet, a plurality of conveyor rollers extending across the trough for carrying a splice bar endwise along the trough, a housing .60 and 83 to the axis of the bar, means for supplying water to the nozzles under high` pressure, and a settling tank for receiving Water and scale from said trough outlet.

EDMUND A. SKOVVRON. 

